A variety of bags and packs of varying shapes and sizes are presently available for carrying loads required in the field. In military applications alone, a dizzying array of duffels, backpacks, belt pouches and the like are available for any and every application. Furthermore, some portion of these bags are required to be able to carry gear as well as convert to other uses, such as stretchers or litters for carrying injured personnel or bulky or heavy loads that require more than one person to transport.
However, many of these existing convertible gear bags are typically complex in their construction, costly to produce, and require many steps to “convert” the bag from one purpose to another. For military applications it is critical that a convertible gear bag take very little time to convert to a litter, and further that it is readily reassembled into a gear bag with minimum effort. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a collection and carry bag that is readily convertible between a gear bag and a litter that is simple, easy to operate, and economical to produce, thereby overcoming the inherent deficiencies in the prior art.